Fall 2021 Georgia Fun and Winter 2O22 in Florida

This is Magic, canine travel blog writer, who had been traveling and living in a class A motorhome for over three years with my humans, Big Dog and Momma Dog. I really am quite the well-traveled hound dog and have sniffed and walked in many states! This blog covers October 2021 to April 2022.

“I like Florida. Everything is in the ‘80s. The temperatures, the ages and the IQs.”—George Carlin

I hope the above quote by George Carlin does not offend you humans. My Momma Dog found it funny!

“Okay, very important question. On one hand, Florida has beaches, but on the other hand, Georgia has peaches. So it’s beach versus peaches. See my predicament?”Erica from The Goldbergs

Warning to my travel blog readers: this covers five months of living with my humans, so I hope this holds your interest. Feel free to scroll quickly through with your paws, I mean fingers.

We landed in Georgia in October, 2021 so I feel it is time again to share about our adventures. My humans continue to live and travel in Tana, our 10 year old motorhome. Tana had some repairs completed (finally our mirror was reattached) while we stayed in the Sankey home in Norcross, Georgia. I, Magic, the American Fox Hound (previously identified as a Treeing Walker Coonhound) enjoyed my visit there with canines Bob and Athena. My humans loved their time with granddaughter, Annie and her parents.

We all were excited about Annie’s baptism on October17, 2021. Canines did not attend the actual baptism-but I heard the sacred event was amazing!

Steve, Reverend Jody Andrade, Annie, Jennie

The family time was great, but soon we had to move on. Before we left, Momma Dog (Julie) created beautiful blue starry night Advent stoles for the pastors at Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church. Our next stop was a camping trip with the Georgia Azaleas in Alabama.

As you can tell we were Florida bound. Our first stay in the sunshine state was in Citra, Florida.

Our next stay in late October, was Sumter Oaks RV Park in Bushnell, Florida. We enjoyed seeing Sandhill Cranes and feeling the FL sunshine. Unfortunately we encountered a rock that scratched a bay door as we entered the campground.

We drove a short distance to our new home for the winter in Fruitland Park, Florida. The humans were volunteering as work campers at Warren Willis Camp and Conference Center, along with about 50 other retired folks. This 300 acre camp is sponsored by the United Methodist Church, and is truly a beautiful and sacred space. I met lots of other dogs and found Florida to be a very nice change!

After the humans completed their weekly 12 hours of volunteer/work (mostly in housekeeping and the dining hall) we took trips within Florida or returned to Georgia to see our family. We had the week before Thanksgiving off and went to Atlanta and visited St. Augustine on our way back, celebrating 39 years of marriage for my humans.

St. Augustine is known as the oldest city in Florida. We stayed at a dog friendly hotel-complete with a dog bed, water dish, dog treats and a huge dog park. The humans and I loved our beach time and a visit to The Fountain of Youth.

My humans had Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel along with many others, and Momma Dog brought me a delicious doggie bag. We returned to Warren Willis Camp and Conference Center and started our Christmas decorating and preparations for Christmas in Atlanta.

One of the first adventures for my humans was Homosassa Springs, on the Gulf coast.

The next December adventure was Silver Springs State Park, also on the Gulf Coast.

Then in mid-December we had a week off at Warren Willis and we traveled to Atlanta for family Christmas fun. The first activity was Jazz Night at the High Museum of Art in downtown Atlanta and experiencing beautiful lights.

We celebrated Christmas early because Joanna and Zach were headed to Wisconsin. And I had to wear a Christmas outfit!

Then Christmas Eve arrived with much excitement for the church service and more family fun. I stayed with fellow canines, Bob and Athena.

On December 26 the humans and I headed back to Florida. Our first stop was Tallahassee to see the capitol building. I actually took a nice nap in the car while the humans walked about.

We returned to Warren Willis Camp and Conference Center to continue our work camping gig along with an adventure to Weeki Wachee for Kendall’s birthday.

We drove to Daytona Beach on January 7, 2022. The humans and I found the beach VERY COLD AND WINDY!

The following week we headed north to Georgia to celebrate Annie’s second birthday!

And we all met the new canine family member-Winston! It was one of his first public outings, and he was instantly loved by all the humans. He wanted to play with me constantly.

There was a bit of snow in Atlanta on January 16, 2022 and then we were back in Florida.

We visited the Citrus tower in January, located in Clermont, Florida.

In February we returned to Atlanta to celebrate Jennie’s birthday and view the Obama portraits at the High Museum of Art in downtown Atlanta. Well the humans left me behind, but there was not a dog portrait to view so I just napped. I heard there was much excitement and a few happy tears shed!

We also celebrated Valentines Day!

A fun event for the humans back in Florida was a concert by a fellow work camper with an amazing voice. His name is Doug and the concert was named, “Love and Doug.”

The humans took me to Venetian Gardens in Leesburg, FL for an afternoon outing. We saw lots of beauty!

Mount Dora was another day trip for the humans. They had delicious Thai food, ate yummy ice cream, learned about harvesting oranges at a museum and viewed the Van Gogh House.

Tavares, Florida the Sea Plane Capital, was our next stop. And seeing the planes take off and land kept my tail wagging!

The next day was a trip to a beach for dogs! It truly was amazing! Woof, woof!

And we took a drive to see the Canaveral National Sea Shore, although no dogs and glass were allowed on the beach. However, the humans did view some nude humans lying on the sand!

Our next adventure found us in Melbourne, Florida visiting Joyce and Jim Sankey in their beautiful home. I enjoyed seeing their little canine, Jamie. My humans experienced the Kennedy Space Center while I napped In Melbourne. They learned much and are ready to blast off!

We loved loved our time in Melbourne-touring the downtown, eating delicious food, and enjoying time in the pool and hot tub at the Sankey home (actually, I did not participate in those activities-except for my dog food.) My humans also hiked through the Turkey Creek Sanctuary and found more Florida beauty.

A few weeks later we experienced Ash Wednesday at Warren Willis Camp and Conference Center. And another amazing sunrise!

Momma Dog went on a work camper field trip on an old school bus to the Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Florida. And she attended a Beach Boys concert while she was there!

Although there are no photos to prove it, Momma Dog met up with her friend, Julie Rising Ward, in The Villages, Florida. They had not seen each other for about 39 years! These two friends who met and worked together in Garden City and Wichita, Kansas-had much to talk about!

Our first winter in Florida was coming to an end, as work campers began to return to their homes or continue full-time travel. We were sad to learn our volunteer coordinator, Shawn, was resigning-because he had become a dear friend. We enjoyed almost every day there, and hope to return!

Well that seems to be more than enough travel information. We rolled out of Florida in early April with new adventures waiting. Thanks for reading to the end.

Love and Woof to my readers,

MAGIC